In cardiac monitoring clinicians often need to vary electrode placement in order to meet specialized physiologic and for monitoring needs of a patient. In electrocardiography (ECG), for instance, clinicians often utilize electrode configurations other than the standard 12 lead ECG. For example, some clinical guidelines suggest the use of right-sided chest (precordial) leads for pediatric and neonatal applications. Schwartz. P. J., et al. “Guidelines for the Interpretation of the Neonatal Electrocardiogram: A Task Force of the European Society of Cardiology.” European Heart Journal 23 (2002): 1329-1344. Likewise, right-sided chest (precordial) leads may be used in clinical applications relating to detection and treatment of certain myocardial infarctions (heart attacks). Antman, Elliott M., et al. “ACC/AHA Guidelines for the Management of Patients with ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction.” ACC/AHA Practice Guidelines (2004): Kligfield, Paul, et al. “Recommendations for the Standardization and Interpretation of the Electrocardiogram: Part I. The Electrocardiogram and Its technology: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association Electrocardiography and Arrhythmias Committee, Council on Clinical Cardiology; the American College of Cardiology Foundation; and the Heart Rhythm Society Endorsed by the International Society for Computerized Electrocardiology.” Circulation, Journal of the American Heart Association 115 (2007): 1306-1324. Additionally, some clinical guidelines suggest the use of posterior leads for posterior myocardial infarctions. Id. Moreover, clinicians may use an alternative lead placement for a host of other reasons, including patient injury, such as a lesion at the site of standard electrode placement, and dextrocardia.
Current cardiac monitoring systems, including ECG systems, do not account for such alternative electrode placements that differ from a standard placement, and the systems do not automatically adjust their processing of the cardiac signal to correspond with the alternative electrode placement. Thus, current systems often misanalyze cardiac signals recorded from electrodes in alternative configurations because they analyze the signal as if it were recorded using a default, or standard, configuration, which results in the system providing inaccurate interpretations of the cardiac signal and incorrect suggestions for diagnoses.